PROMOTION OF WOMEN
The promotion of women to senior positions in the legal profession is of keen interest to AWLA. The retention and advancement of women lawyers is also a key issue in the broader legal community – with NZLS reporting that while approximately 61% of people working in firms with more than one practitioner are women, women make up less than 31% of partners or directors in those firms.
Visibility of the proportion of women in partnership across a range of firms is an important part of drawing attention and accountability to the progress that is or is not being made to address this inequity.
For this reason, AWLA has compiled information about the proportion of women partners across a range of firms, and their promotion in recent years, in the below table.
The first version of this table was published in 2020, and reflected a breakdown of promotions since 1 January 2015. This is now our third iteration of this table, to reflect a breakdown of promotions since 1 July 2017, and we will keep it updated on annual basis as at 1 July.
Total partnership numbers are based on publicly available information on each firm’s website. To reflect the work firms may have been doing in recent years to promote more women to partnership (either internally or through lateral hires), we have also asked each firm to provide us with information about the numbers of partners promoted since 1 July 2017 and the proportion of these that are women. We have also asked each firm to provide a breakdown of how many partners are non-equity partners, and how many of those are women. Lastly, we have recorded whether each firm is a signatory of NZLS’s Gender Equality Charter. Under the Charter, signatories commit to actively working to increase gender equality and inclusion in senior roles. Further information about the basis of reporting is at the bottom of this page.
We hope that this information is useful to you. From our perspective, it shows that we still have a long way to go to achieve gender parity in partnership in the legal profession, but there is also some good work being done to achieve this goal.
If you have any questions or comments about the information on this page – including any suggestions about other firms you think we should include – please contact president@awla.nz.
Promotion of Women 2022
| wdt_ID | Firm | Total Partners | Women Partners | % Total Women Partners | Total New Partners (Since 1 Jul 2016) | Total New Women Partners (Since 1 Jul 2016) | % Total New Women Partners (since 1 Jul 2016) | % Women Partners that are Non-Equity Partners | % Men Partners that are Non-Equity Partners | Gender Equality Charter Signatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapman Tripp | 52 | 18 | 35 | 15 | 7 | 42 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 2 | Minter Ellison Rudd Watts | 46 | 17 | 37 | 16 | 8 | 50 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 3 | Bell Gully | 43 | 14 | 33 | 14 | 8 | 57 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 4 | Simpson Grierson | 43 | 15 | 35 | 10 | 7 | 70 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 5 | Buddle Findlay | 47 | 14 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 50 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 6 | Duncan Cotterill | 48 | 15 | 31 | 17 | 11 | 65 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 7 | Russell McVeagh | 43 | 14 | 33 | 22 | 8 | 36 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 8 | Dentons Kensington Swan | 36 | 14 | 39 | 16 | 9 | 56 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 9 | Meredith Connell | 35 | 15 | 43 | 27 | 14 | 52 | 40% | 35% | ✔ |
| 10 | Anthony Harper | 33 | 8 | 24 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 11 | Lane Neave | 25 | 10 | 40 | 11 | 5 | 45 | 50% | 53% | ✔ |
| 12 | Tompkins Wake | 27 | 11 | 41 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 13 | DLA Piper | 20 | 7 | 35 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 14 | Anderson Lloyd | 27 | 11 | 41 | 12 | 6 | 50 | 0% | 0% | ✔ |
| 15 | Wynn Williams | 26 | 14 | 54 | 20 | 9 | 45 | 50% | 42% | ✔ |
| 16 | Hesketh Henry | 18 | 8 | 44 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 17 | Greenwood Roche | 17 | 7 | 41 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 18 | McVeagh Fleming | 16 | 3 | 19 | - | - | ✘ | |||
| 19 | Glaistor Ennor | 13 | 5 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 80% | 50% | ✘ |
| 20 | Martelli McKegg | 14 | 7 | 50 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 21 | Mayne Wetherell | 9 | 1 | 11 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 22 | Lowndes Jordan | 7 | 2 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 75 | ✔ | ||
| 23 | Hudson Gavin Martin | 7 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 50 | ✔ | ||
| 24 | Grimshaw & Co | 5 | 1 | 20 | - | - | ✘ | |||
| 25 | Turner Hopkins | 6 | 2 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 50 | 100% | 25% | ✘ |
| 26 | Lee Salmon Long | 6 | 1 | 17 | - | - | ✘ | |||
| 27 | Haigh Lyon | 7 | 4 | 57 | 4 | 3 | 75 | 50% | 33% | ✘ |
| 28 | Harmos Horton Lusk | 5 | 2 | 40 | - | - | ✘ | |||
| 29 | Wilson Harle | 5 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 0% | 0% | ✘ |
| 30 | Gilbert Walker | 3 | 1 | 33 | ✔ | |||||
| 31 | Rice Speir | 3 | 1 | 33 | - | - | ✔ | |||
| 32 | Morris Legal | 2 | 2 | 100 | - | - | ✘ | |||
| 33 | Davenports | 3 | 2 | 67 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 50% | 0% | ✘ |
| Firm | Total Partners | Women Partners | % Total Women Partners | Total New Partners (Since 1 Jul 2016) | Total New Women Partners (Since 1 Jul 2016) | % Total New Women Partners (since 1 Jul 2016) | % Women Partners that are Non-Equity Partners | % Men Partners that are Non-Equity Partners | Gender Equality Charter Signatory |
Key:
| black | 0-19% |
| red | 20-29% |
| orange | 30-39% |
| yellow | 40-49% |
| green | 50-100% |
| grey | Did not respond or declined to participate |
Basis of reporting:
- Total partner numbers are current as at 17 July 2022 as published on firms’ websites or otherwise reported to AWLA.
- Information regarding promotions since 1 July 2017 and non-equity partnership was received between 21 June and 15 July 2022 and is current as at receipt.
- Gender Equality Charter signatory status is current as at 17 July 2022 as published on the NZLS website.
- Firms are reported in order of size from largest partnership to smallest.
- Davenports uses the name Director instead of partner. Turner Hopkins uses the name Director for equity partners and Principal for non-equity partners.